It's a Kind of Magic Part I: What Sorcery Is This?
by praemonitus praemunitus
Summary: Turns out Danny has a secret that he's been hiding all these years. A powerful, magical secret that needs to stay hidden, lest it should change his life forever. But what happens when the life of someone close to him is in danger, and the only way to save them is for Danny to tap into the power that he's denied himself for so long?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I truly did hope to return to this forum much sooner and with another update of "And Then There Were None". But I have not had any chance to write for so long that I ended up losing the thread of the story (as I have feared). Now that I have been getting some free time, I am trying to recapture that thread and I hope to be able to update again in the near future. **

**Meanwhile, this new story idea decided to take precedence, and I wanted to try it out. I have it planned out as a three-story arc, all revolving around Danny's magical secret and how it impacts the lives of those closest to him. It mainly focuses on Steve, Danny and Grace, but other characters are present as well. I have not written a magical universe before (unless you count "Crimson Flower"), and I have definitely not done anything with a magical Danny. So I would really like to see what happens, and I would love to hear your comments!**

* * *

It was a Friday. The 13th, to make matters worse. And not that Danny Williams was a particularly superstitious man, but for someone who grew up around magic the significance of a date like that on a calendar could not possibly be ignored.

Danny could have brushed it off, however, along with all the bad augurs it implied, if it were not for the nervous ripples he felt in the Life Force around him. Life Force was something he believed in very strongly from a young age, when his abilities first manifested themselves, and he learned to listen to it and heed its warnings. It had all but gone quiet around him ever since he left the School, yet he could always feel its tingling presence just at the edge of his consciousness, and he knew that he needed but to reach for it, and it would course through his veins like electric wildfire, filling him with its dizzying, spellbinding power.

He never did, however. Not since that night at the School. That was the agreement, the price for his life, his freedom. And he wasn't about to risk jeopardizing any of that just to derive a moment of pleasure (albeit intoxicatingly powerful) from once again being able to feel magic course through him.

Yet just because he denied himself its touch, forcing himself to ignore its tantalizing, vibrant closeness, didn't mean that he wasn't paying attention to it, listening to its messages hungrily, intently, making sure not to miss a single one. And there have been plenty over the years – both those of joyful encouragement and those of dire warning. He remembered the giddy excitement he felt from it days before Rachel announced to him that she was pregnant all those years ago. And he remembered just as vividly the feeling of impending doom that sat heavy as lead in the pit of his stomach the day his partner rushed off to North Korea to help out a friend. Danny couldn't help but think that if he had been more forceful about getting Steve to change his mind about going in alone, his partner would have been spared days of senseless torture and the pain of yet another betrayal. He was drowning in a dark pit of guilt and self-recrimination all the way to Seoul, and he remembered clearly the bitter taste of disappointment that thrummed through Life Force, staying with him as his constant companion for a good few months after they had already brought Steve back.

So, yeah, Danny wasn't about to ignore any more messages, not if he could help it. And when that morning Life Force woke him up with a deafening peal of warning – loud enough that it reverberated quite painfully inside his skull – Danny knew that nothing good could be expected from that day.

Groaning in frustration, Danny burrowed his face deeper into the pillow, thinking that it might be a good idea to call in sick this morning. Yet, even as his hand reached for the phone, about to dial McGarrett's number, the alarm bells grew louder and more frantic, and he jerked his hand back as if scalded. Frowning in consternation, he sat up in bed and closed his eyes, cautiously reaching out with his other senses.

Life Force hummed nervously around him, filling him with a sense of urgency that accompanied its warning. Something was going to happen today, something bad. But not to him, Danny was sure of it. The sense of coming danger he felt through the ripples in the Life Force was not directed at his person. Which could only mean one thing – something bad was going to happen to someone he cared about, and Life Force was warning him about it and pushing him to prevent it.

There were no hints beyond that, no answers to "who", or "when", or "where", or even "how". And maybe it was payback for ignoring it the last time, and maybe Danny deserved it, but it didn't stop him from muttering an angry expletive before throwing off the covers and stomping grumpily off to the bathroom. _"This is going to be a long day..."_

H50-H50-H50

Life Force was a constant agitated hum that blossomed for Danny into a full-blown migraine, pounding with nauseating precision to every beat of his heart.

When 5-0 were called in to assist HPD in a raid on a warehouse, where one of their murder suspects was spotted, Danny was ready to throw in a towel. He rose from his seat, intent on telling his already geared up boss that he was going to have to sit this one out, because his head was killing him. Yet even as he opened his mouth to speak, Life Force roared in panicked protestation, and he cringed in pain and worry, snapping his mouth shut with an audible click.

_"Steve?" _ he asked cautiously in his mind. _"Steve is the one in danger? The warehouse? Is that where?"_

Life Force hummed in affirmation, and Danny swallowed harshly against the rising panic.

"Steve, hey!" he called out after his partner, who was already halfway out the door. "Wait up!"

"What is it, Danny?" Fingers curled around the door handle, the former SEAL was itching to rush off, eager to resolve the week-long case.

"Maybe," Danny began cautiously, knowing with sinking certainty that his suggestion was going to be brushed off. "Maybe we should sit this one out. Let HPD handle it."

Steve narrowed his eyes at that, frowning at him with a mixture of confusion and concern. "Everything alright, Danny?"

_"No, everything is NOT alright. I happen to know from a credible source that I can never tell you about because you'll think I'm certifiable that YOUR FREAKING LIFE IS IN DANGER!"_

Danny bit his lip in a conscious effort to keep his internal monologue from accidentally slipping out and took a calming breath, trying to fake nonchalance.

"Nah, it's just... we've been on this case for days, virtually no sleep, you know. Plus my head's been killing me today – I feel like I have Kamekona and all of his cousins trying to dance a jig in here," he pointed at his temple, smiling lamely.

"Then maybe you really should sit this one out," the taller man offered, his gaze darkening in worry. An instant later his face morphed into a frown of determination, and he clasped his hand gently around Danny's bicep and marched back toward the blond's office, purposefully dragging the other man along.

"Wait... wait... WAIT!" Danny's hesitant plea turned into a reluctant growl, as he backpedaled for all he was worth, trying valiantly but ineffectually to dislodge his partner's arm. "Would you let me go, you, ANIMAL?"

Finally succeeding in stalling Steve's forward march, he virtually ripped his hand out of the taller man's grip, exclaiming indignantly, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Steve blinked at him silently a moment, the frown of determination gradually sliding into Danny's all-time favorite aneurysm face. "I was going to take you back to your office so you could lie down," he explained in a somewhat exasperated voice, as if he were stating the obvious and couldn't understand why Danny would balk at this. "You can't go into a potential shootout situation if you're not feeling 100%. It's too risky."

"Says a guy who went after a murder suspect with one arm in a cast," Danny fired back, taking a step backwards and out of range of his partner's unfairly long arms. The retort was spoken perhaps a bit too harshly, but Danny was suddenly terrified that he might have overplayed his hand with the headache story and that Steve would grasp at that excuse and leave him behind.

"That was-"

"Uh-uh-uh," the Jersey native cut a finger sharply through the air in his friend's direction. "Unless the next words out of your mouth were going to be 'extremely stupid and reckless on my part', don't even bother finishing that phrase, Steven."

The taller man snapped his mouth shut, his lips pulling into an honest-to-goodness pout, and Danny barely restrained himself from a long-suffering eye-roll. "Believe you me, my skulking friend, I am just as capable of covering your ass **with** a headache as without it. Let me just get some Tylenol and water, and we'll be on our way."

H50-H50-H50

They got separated at the warehouse, because, of course, why would anything go right on a day like that? A sudden burst of gunfire had Danny diving behind a stack of empty barrels to avoid getting hit. When the sharp zing-zing of bullets against hollow metal was silenced by an expertly directed volley from one of Grover's men (one Danny would have to remember to thank later), Danny broke his cover only to find that Steve was no longer near. Cursing for all he was worth, he looked around frantically, trying to spot the taller man, but to no avail.

Suddenly he heard a familiar voice roar "Five-0! Drop your weapon!", which was instantly followed by the sound of a gunshot and a loud crash. His heart in his throat Danny sprinted toward the sound, paying no heed to the bullet-speared chaos around him. If he were in any danger, Life Force would warn him, he was sure of it.

He caught a glimpse of his partner far ahead, as the latter ducked out of the way of a metal pipe that slashed through the air toward his head, and he rejoiced inwardly at seeing Steve still on his feet. Yet the SEAL's opponent was relentless, coming at him again and again with the same vicious power born out of angry desperation, allowing no time for respite. And the inevitable finally happened. A shout of warning caught in Danny's throat, as Steve stumbled awkwardly on the floor littered with scattered pipes and pieces of broken crates, gasping as his right leg slid out from underneath him, landing him on his knee. He brought up his arm to protect himself, but it was not enough to deflect a powerful swing that came toward him the very next second. Danny fired at the attacker, but he was still too far away, and his shots buried themselves harmlessly inside a stack of plastic-wrapped boxes that partially concealed the two men. And all Danny could do was wince in sympathy, as the pipe collided brutally with Steve's forearm, the momentum of the swing driving the makeshift weapon beyond the ineffectual shield and into the side of the SEAL's skull.

Life Force buzzed louder now, its warning – an ever-growing crescendo, and Danny ran faster still, knowing with bleak certainty that he wasn't going to be fast enough. And when Steve's assailant bent down to pick up his discarded weapon and aimed it at the SEAL, who was trying to pick himself up off the floor, using a nearby wall as a crutch, Danny knew that he had no choice.

Never breaking his forward dash, he lowered the shields that he had constructed so carefully all those years ago, letting the mystical ancient power flow through him once again. He felt the familiar tingling in his fingertips, the overwhelming rush of energy – intoxicating and unrestrained like a wild mustang and yet responsive to every whim of an expert handler.

A shot was fired – a deafening explosion to his magic-enhanced senses, and Danny reached out swiftly and unhesitatingly, letting Life Force take over, wrap its magical tentacles around the bullet, pulling at it just enough to change its deadly trajectory.

Steve's assailant froze suddenly, staring down at his own shirt in stunned disbelief, before falling heavily backwards onto the warehouse floor, slain by his own bullet. And all that remained was Steve. Half his face covered in blood, one arm cradled against his body, he stood leaning heavily against the wall, his wide-eyed gaze riveted to the body of his would-be killer. But then his gaze shifted, the dark blue eyes rising to meet Danny's, as the latter pulled up to a breathless stop in front of him. And the bright piercing stare, filled with a swirling mixture of amazement, trepidation and disbelief, told Danny one thing – Steve knew.

* * *

TBC

_Thoughts?_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Thank you so much for the wonderful reception to this story! I know I haven't responded to all of you, and I'm sorry for that. I really appreciate all the comments, the follows, the favorites. Thank you!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

They drove in silence, each of them lost in his own thoughts. Danny had been both expecting and dreading a conversation with Steve; the anticipation of the dreaded questions, the odd looks, the inevitable wariness and unease that he was sure to see in his partner's eyes from now on made him almost physically sick.

Yet Steve hadn't said a word. Not at the warehouse, where their perp's body lay between them like the proverbial elephant in the room, its wide-open, vacant stare fixed accusingly on the rafters above. Not at the hospital, where Danny hovered nervously, while an ER doctor worked on setting the broken bone in Steve's forearm and putting stitches on the long gash above his temple.

And now Danny was driving him home, Steve having predictably refused an overnight stay at the hospital for observation, and Danny found himself stealing furtive glances at his taciturn passenger. At the white bandage that stood in stark contrast to the dark hair, still matted with poorly rinsed out blood. At the newly casted arm that rested awkwardly against the grimy rumpled fabric of his shirt. At the tightly pinched, pale lips.

"Eyes on the road, Danny," the tired, humorless echo of his own oft-spoken admonition was like a physical slap, and Danny cut his gaze swiftly back to the road before them, where the dying colors of the evening sun were slowly bleeding out to be replaced with bleak, indifferent gray.

_"Great!," _he thought grimly, even as Life Force itself bristled at the undeniable chill that had settled between them. _"Just great."_

Some five minutes later (the longest, most torturous five minutes of Danny's life) they pulled into McGarrett's driveway, and Danny tensed, waiting for Steve's next move. The man beside him shifted with a pained grunt, and then the passenger door was flung open, and Danny was left to stare with gut-gnawing apprehension, as his partner walked stiffly toward his house. The front door, left wide open after Steve had walked inside, was Danny's only clue that he was expected to follow.

He sighed, shaking his head a little, as a tiny surge of hope he felt through Life Force let at least some of the tension bleed away. And so he followed. All the way through the still dark and empty house (evidently, Steve never bothered to turn on the lights) to the other wide open door – to the lanai. In the encroaching twilight Danny could clearly make out the familiar dark-haired silhouette of his partner, slumped low in his wooden chair, long legs stretched out in the sand.

He lingered a moment, pausing long enough to grab a couple of Longboards from the fridge, and resolutely walked outside, slipping into the empty chair beside his friend.

Steve took the proffered beer without a word, his gaze lost somewhere in the darkening waters beyond. Silence stretched between them, melting away into the warm, humid air, until, finally, Steve spoke.

"Was it you?"

The question was a soft raspy whisper, hesitant and unsure, and Danny winced internally at how un-Steve-like Steve sounded. He knew perfectly well what the question meant, yet all the tension leading up to this moment left him more than a little grumpy, and he decided to feign ignorance.

"Was it me what?"

Steve cut a glance to him then – long and evaluative, before once again fixing his gaze on the ocean. "When Mary was about four," he murmured, so quietly that Danny had to strain to hear him over the light rustling of the waves against the shore, "she got sick. Really, really sick. I don't remember the details," he shook his head, as if bemoaning his lapse in memory, "but I do remember that it was bad."

The SEAL fell silent again, turning once more to glance at his partner, and Danny forced himself to remain still under his searching gaze. "It was Mamo who suggested that my parents take her to a local Kahuna. They balked at first. My mom... Doris didn't believe in all that 'mambo jumbo', as she put it." He scoffed tiredly, and Danny cringed at the bitterness in his friend's voice. "But then Mary kept getting worse and... well, she relented."

His body still half-turned toward Danny, Steve's eyes were looking past him again – a clouded, faraway stare. "I don't know what it was exactly that the Kahuna did. I wasn't allowed inside, when he worked. None of us were. But Mary was fine after that. She was just... it was as if nothing happened to her, you know."

Danny nodded, even though Steve wasn't exactly looking at him. Because, yes, he knew exactly what Steve was talking about. The healing potential in Life Force was enormous – one simply needed to know how to use it: remove the bad energy, replace it with the good, all the while making sure to remain nothing more than a vessel for that energy, lest Life Force should claim too much of the healer's own energy in the process.

"I asked Mamo about it afterwards," Steve's quiet voice broke through his reverie, and the Jersey native pulled his attention away from his thoughts and back to his partner, whose bright, penetrating gaze was once again locked on Danny, making him shiver under the forceful onslaught of its scrutiny. "He told me that the kahu were special, that they possessed powers nobody else had; that they get those powers from the earth itself, and the sun and the sky, the ocean and the mountains all work together to help them do what they do." He paused, taking a long sip of his beer, his Adam's apple bobbing sharply, as he swallowed.

"Back at the warehouse, when that guy shot at me, I was sure that that was it, that I was screwed. I saw the bullet leave the gun. And then I saw it stop and... turn around," Steve's words were coming out tense, clipped, his eyes never leaving Danny's. "And then I saw you. I thought...," he trailed off, suddenly uncertain, his gaze vacillating between openly trusting and guardedly insecure. "_**Was**_ it you, Danny?"

There was nothing Danny could say to that except, "Yes."

H50-H50-H50

"I was thirteen, when my abilities first came online," Danny began quietly, as he leaned back and closed his eyes, letting the long-buried memories bubble back to the surface. "My mom said it was like a puberty thing. Like getting armpit hair or having your voice break. Except in my case it was stalling a freaking semi to keep it from crashing into my school bus. Freaked me out like you wouldn't believe," he added, chuckling at the memory.

"What happened?" Steve's voice was hoarse with tension.

Danny shrugged, keeping his eyes closed. "I was shipped off to the School pretty much the next day."

"What school?"

"_THE_ School, Steven," Danny opened his eyes and sat up straighter, raising his index finger to emphasize the point. "A special school for Life Force sentients. The only one of its kind," he added with sarcasm-tainted flourish.

"Life Force, huh? Your school director a Star Wars fan?" His partner's features were becoming washed out in the thickening twilight, but Danny could still clearly make out a slight grin that twisted his pale lips.

"Ha-ha, very funny, McGarrett," Danny rolled his eyes in annoyance that was more put-on than anything. "You wanna make fun of the name or are you actually ready to act your age and listen like a grown-up?"

"Sorry." Steve made the 'go-ahead' gesture with his cast-free arm, looking pretty contrite. "Go on."

Danny gave an overly dramatic nod in magnanimous acceptance of his apology before continuing on with his explanation. "Well, like I said, I got shipped off to the School for Life Force Sentients, which, in normal speak, meant that once I turned 13 life as I knew it was pretty much over for me. I was to remain at the School until I learned how to live in tune with my 'newfound abilities'," Danny's hands rose briefly above the armrests, fingers curling to mime quotation marks.

"Oh, man, I'm sorry, that must have been rough," Steve winced, shaking his head. "I can't believe you let me bitch about being sent away at 16, when you–"

"With all due respect for your unhealthy penchant for self-flagellation," the Jersey native scoffed, interrupting him, "I do believe that between the two of us, your childhood was quite a bit more screwed up than mine, so you really have nothing to apologize to me for."

The former SEAL smirked into the deepening darkness. "You're all heart, Danno."

"You know it, babe," the blond retorted softly, taking a chug of his beer, and then he shrugged vaguely, going back to his earlier point. "Joking aside though, my folks were right to send me off to the School. Life Force is too impressive of a power to handle without knowing how. I would have been screwed, if I didn't learn how to handle it." _"Not that I didn't end up being screwed anyway," _he added bitterly in his head.

"What is Life Force, exactly?" Steve asked carefully, as though afraid of saying the wrong thing, of offending him somehow. And while seeing the former SEAL so flustered was undeniably entertaining, Danny chose to once again show his benevolent nature and not comment on his partner's obvious discomfort, no matter how tempting it was.

"Energy," he replied instead, "pure and simple. Energy that's in all living things, in nature," Danny made a wide all-encompassing gesture into the darkness, "everywhere." He chuckled as he thought about what Steve had said earlier. "Come to think of it, a lot of what George Lucas had written about is true. The Force, the way the Jedi can use It, the way It 'talks' to them. Kinda makes me wonder if Lucas isn't...," he trailed off, shaking his head with a doubtful "Nah".

Steve's low chuckle echoed his words. "It would certainly validate all those fans, who believe it's real," he agreed. "But stranger things have happened, Danno. Take me, for instance. I never suspected that my partner was... What is it that you call yourself again?" There was a hint of bitterness in his voice, an echo of something Danny couldn't quite identify.

"A Life Force sentient."

"Right," the taller man nodded distractedly, unclasping the fingers of his uninjured hand and letting his now empty bottle fall to the sand. "So what is a sentient? I already know that you can stop a bullet and, apparently, have it turn around in midair. What else?"

Danny stared pensively at the moonlit face of his partner, wondering just how much he should tell him. So far Steve has been handling this better than Danny expected, given his earlier mood. He didn't have a giant freakout, he hasn't bolted. Granted, the man was perhaps too exhausted and in too much pain to do any bolting any time soon. Still, he was here and he was willing to listen. In the end, Danny decided to go for it.

"Life Force is energy, like I said. And it exists outside both time and space, which means it is everywhere at once. Any significant event that takes place within it sends ripples across all of its layers in every direction – like a stone thrown into the ocean. Sentients like myself are able to feel those ripples and interpret them."

"So that's why you tried to get me to skip the raid tonight," Steve guessed, his voice awed. "You knew that this guy was going to –"

"Well, not technically, no," Danny corrected, earning himself a confused glare. "I knew that you were in danger, but I didn't know the specifics. It doesn't work like that," he added as an afterthought.

"I see," Steve nodded again, mulling over the information. "And the bullet? How did you do that?"

"Energy displacement," the blond responded, leaning forward in his chair to give more room to his hands, as they began to wave about almost of their own volition, joining in on his explanation. "This energy, it's everywhere, right? It's all around us, like the air itself. And we, sentients, are able to manipulate that energy, to pull it together in one area, for instance, and direct it into another. We can do it gently – to move things, like that bullet, or to heal, like what that Kahuna did with Mary. Or we can use it to strike, to destroy."

"To kill," Steve added pensively, and Danny ducked his head in affirmation.

"To kill." Finger raised warningly in the air, Danny cautioned mockingly, "Before you let the warmongering part of your brain come up with some 20 different scenarios on how you could use my powers to better blow up parts of Honolulu, however, I should warn you that I do not do that stuff."

Steve shook his head, a gesture almost completely obscured by the surrounding darkness. "No, that's ... not what I was thinking about, Danny," he murmured, and there was once again that mournful echo in his voice that Danny couldn't identify earlier. _Regret? Disappointment? _ "I just...," Steve took a deep, halting breath, tearing his gaze away from the boundless pool of night that glistened calmly in the cool moon-bathed air and locking it once more with Danny's. "You never told me," he accused gently, the whites of his eyes unnaturally bright against the blackness. "All those years we've known each other, you never told me."

_"So __**that's**__ what all the pouting was about earlier!" _Danny almost laughed with relief. He should have known. For all of his big bad SEAL grand posturing on the inside his friend was just an insecure sixteen-year-old kid with huge trust issues. He told Steve as much. Along with, "And just so I could put your mind at ease there, Mr. Pouty Pants, you should know that you are only the second person outside my immediate family who knows this about me. The first being Rachel, the mother of my child. To whom, might I add, I told **only** once she became pregnant with said child. Figured I owed it to her to warn her, see? So you might as well reel that bottom lip back in – you got nothing to sulk over."

"...'m not sulking, Danny," Steve denied automatically, as he digested the information. "Just find it ...odd that you kept this a secret. It's such a big part of who you are." He sighed, leaning back in his chair, silence stretched taut and uncomfortable around him. For a long moment the only sound that interrupted that wall of stillness around them was the soft lapping of the waves against the shore. Then Steve cleared his throat, breaking the tension. "So," he asked, switching topics, "... is Grace also a sentient?"

The blond shrugged noncommittally. "We'll know in a couple of years when she reaches puberty. It's not a guarantee, at any rate. My mom is a sentient, but only two of her kids inherited the abilities – myself and my kid sister." He frowned as he thought about Lainie and the mess that followed her introduction to the school. And as much as he wasn't looking forward to rehashing that particular period of his life, Steve deserved to know. Especially, since there was very little chance that his earlier stunt went unnoticed by the School officials, and he was sure he'd be receiving a visit from one of them soon. And then... Well, it was best if Steve knew what kind of shit was about to hit the fan.

* * *

_TBC_ So I planned to get all of Danny's backstory into one chapter, but it sort of ran away from me and I ended up having to split it up. Next chapter will explain what happened to make Danny give up his ties to magic. Oh, and we are also due for some whump. **  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I've been slow as molasses lately. Sorry for the delay. Here's part two of Danny's backstory. Warning for a potentially disturbing scene involving a minor.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"I sort of... kind of... got into a thing with one of the students there," Danny began haltingly, reluctantly, the words, spoken for the first time in almost 20 years, sticking in his throat, as though unwilling or afraid to come to the surface. _"Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, as they say,"_ Danny sighed, deciding to push forward before he lost his resolve.

"A... thing...," Steve echoed, wearing a perfect rendition of his constipated concentration face. And it was a sad testament to just how attached the two of them had become, Danny supposed, that he did not even need to be able to see his partner in the dark to know exactly that this was the face he was making at that moment.

"A 'we hated each other's guts to the point of wanting to kill each other' kind of thing."

"I see..." The constipation face morphed into a frown of concern, Danny could tell. "Something you said?"

"Why do you automatically assume it was me who started this, McGarrett?" Danny bristled, and he could see the echoing movement of Steve's shoulders as the latter shrugged into the darkness.

"You do tend to rant at people a lot, Danny."

"Correction," Danny huffed, annoyed, "I rant at **you**, my friend, the one and only bane of my existence. And deservedly so, I might add. Call me naive, but I keep hoping to inject at least some of my sagaciousness and perspicacity into that thick Neanderthal skull of yours."

He took a breath, about to launch into yet another tirade, but stopped abruptly, realizing with a start that this was exactly what Steve was counting on. The man sensed his nervousness and was trying to distract him the best way he knew how. Rants have always been Danny's way of coping, a way to divert his attention from something that had him absolutely, positively terrified. And the fact that Steve was willing to submit to yet another one of his diatribes while nursing what had to be a killer of a headache made his heart swell with gratitude, his throat burning with emotion. "Thanks, man," he croaked out, his voice sounding like nothing remotely resembling the bluster of a few moments ago.

Instead of a response his partner reached across the small space between them, placing his uninjured hand on top of Danny's.

They sat in companionable silence, the warm Hawaiian night enveloping the two of them like a soft wool blanket, and Danny let his eyes drift close and almost forget the reason why they were sitting there in the first place. Almost.

"His name was Barrington Winsley, III," he offered finally after a long pause, huffing out a disgusted chuckle. "Before you ask, yes, he was as pretentious a son of a bitch as his name made him out to be. He was the son of the Head of School, knew lots of low people in high places... well, you know the type."

"Sounds charming," the former SEAL agreed, shifting slightly to find a more comfortable position for his all too stiff and aching body. The move was followed by a soft groan, and the blond sat up straighter, squinting at him in concern.

"You okay? You wanna maybe take this inside, lie down?"

"Nah, I'm good," came the standard, if a bit strained, response, and Danny huffed loudly, calling his bullshit. But Steve's fingers tightened ever so slightly around Danny's wrist, a barely discernable exhale of a laughter punctuating his subsequent insistent assertion, "I'm okay, D, really. Go on."

Danny didn't respond right away, as he continued to watch him closely, even going so far as to expand his senses and letting Life Force gauge his friend's current state for him. Life Force pretty much confirmed what he already suspected: Steve was exhausted and hurting. Nothing life-threatening, to be sure, but Steve really should have been inside... in bed... resting, as per doctor's orders, instead of sitting out here in a twisted half-sprawl on a chair that didn't even have a flimsy footrest. Danny told him as much, and when Steve didn't even dignify that with a response he grumbled, relenting,

"Very well then, McGarrett. But if you dare pass out on me while I am in the middle of telling you my sob story, you are going to be stuck riding shotgun for a month." He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Steve nod at that.

"The guy, Winsley, was a late manifester," Danny began once more, letting his gaze drift back toward the moon-sprinkled blackness of the ocean. "His abilities didn't come through until he was 16, almost 17, when most of us have already been learning to live with Life Force for several years. Late manifesters are rare, and some of them have problems coming fully online, especially if they manifest post puberty. Most can be caught up, though,... with proper instruction. There was a special ed. type program at the School for just such cases, and Winsley should have been placed there, but, given his connections and his high and mighty opinion of himself, he got thrown into our grade to be together with the rest of his peers."

"I'm guessing that didn't go over well," the SEAL surmised.

"Not so much, no," Danny scoffed in assent and shrugged noncommittally. "He was an incompetent, overgrown dimwit and...uh... I may have told him so on a few occasions."

"Hence the... _thing_," Steve added, echoing his earlier words, and Danny nodded, even though Steve couldn't really see him.

"The bastard spent his every waking moment trying to come up with ways – magical and otherwise – to screw with me. And I... well," Danny chuckled lightly, smiling at another long-buried memory, "I had a good group of friends there, so I usually managed to respond in kind." His smile faded almost instantly, though, and he gripped the chair arms tighter, steeling himself for the next, most painful part of his story.

"Lanie, my kid sister, came to the School later that year. I was supposed to meet up with her after her orientation, show her around, stuff like that. But then I got held up at the School library, studying for an exam I had the following morning – it was my senior year, you know." He paused, biting his lower lip, his body responding to the agonizing memory with ever-rising tension, blood pounding so furiously in his ears, he was sure his veins were going to pop.

"When I finally got to her dorm room, she wasn't there. Her roommate told me ... she told me that a friend of mine stopped by a little while earlier, told Lanie that I was running late, and that he would take her to me."

"Winsley?" his partner's strained whisper floated into the darkness, and Danny nodded wordlessly, only belatedly realizing the futility of the gesture.

"Yes," he croaked out, sucking in a sharp breath that did nothing to help draw any air into his lungs. "I tried searching for her, using Life Force, but that son of a bitch put a frigging dampening field around her. I couldn't... couldn't get a clear read. A-all I could sense was fear ...and pain... so- so much of it." He felt Steve's hand tighten around his in a silent gesture of support, but the touch, even a comforting one, was suddenly too much, and Danny tore away, springing up from his chair, and began pacing agitatedly in front of it.

"In the woods," he breathed out at last, his voice catching painfully. "I found them in the woods behind the science building. He had her pinned on the ground, while he... he–," he broke off, swallowing convulsively, as Life Force rippled and roared around him, echoing his own inner turmoil.

Steve rose to his feet beside him – a warm, familiar presence just at the edge of his anguish-flooded senses. "Danny?" the worried call of his name was followed once more by an attempt to comfort, a hesitant hand hovering just above his trembling shoulder, before clasping it firmly but gently.

Danny swallowed tightly, fighting for control, as a harsh, angry sob ripped past his lips. "She was so terrified, Steve, she couldn't move. Not even when I pulled the bastard off of her."

"Did he-?"

"Rape her?" Danny twisted angrily, inadvertently pushing deeper into Steve's space. The former SEAL hissed sharply in pain but held his ground, unwilling to relinquish his hold on Danny, as if knowing instinctually that his touch was the only tether, albeit a tenuous one, that was keeping his friend from becoming completely lost in the whirlwind of emotional torture.

For his part, Danny seemed oblivious to his friend's distress, standing rigid and trembling before him, his eyes glazed over with a fog of memories. "He didn't have time to, thank God," he bit out hoarsely, looking past Steve into the unsettled darkness beyond. "But the son of a bitch has done enough. She was catatonic, Steve. She wouldn't respond to anyone... to anything. The professors at the School... they had to do a freaking memory wipe on her to bring her back. And then they said that her connection to Life Force has been tainted by the _'incident'_, they called it," he mimed the air quotes, scoffing bitterly. "They had no choice, they said. They locked her abilities back in, made it as though nothing that took place since her manifestation had ever happened. Mom took her home the next day."

Danny fell silent again, his eyes downcast, as he reached up to wipe surreptitiously at the traitorous moisture there. "I couldn't keep her safe, Steve. My baby sister. I couldn't... That bastard–"

"You did save her, Danny," the taller man interrupted emphatically, bowing his head slightly to catch the other man's eye. "You stopped him. Didn't you?"

Life Force reared in indignation, appalled that he felt the need to ask. "Oh, I did much more than that." Danny's voice grew cold, dark, the cloud of energy around him thickening, crackling with boundless, lethal power, and Steve jerked his hand back with a gasp, as a sudden jolt of electricity ripped through his palm.

Danny stepped back, too, his troubled gaze riveted to the SEAL's hand that the latter had curled protectively into a fist. "When I saw Lanie on the ground underneath him, I–... I've never felt anything like that before. Life Force - it was like a tidal wave, a tsunami. It billowed, it grew. It roared so loud that I could hear nothing else. Remember what I told you about it being able to kill?"

Steve nodded mutely, a worried frown marring his forehead.

"I... I think I would have probably killed him if my friends hadn't shown up," Danny admitted then, his voice quiet again now that his power has settled back down. "I came really close. Scarily close. The Head of School wanted my head on a platter for this," he scoffed bitterly, shaking his head in a tired, disappointed gesture. "He said I was a danger to the School and the outsiders. That if I couldn't control my abilities after all that time, I needed to be stripped of all access to Life Force."

"Stripped?" Steve echoed numbly, squinting at him in confusion. "Is that the same thing they did to your sister?"

"No," the blond responded with a sigh. "**That** is what they do to those sentients, who have abused the power of Life Force to the point of endangering the lives of others. Life Force itself is used to ... to basically overload all connections to it, burn them away. It... uh... it's a quite painful process, I've been told."

"They didn't do it, though, I take it?" Relief was almost palpable in Steve's voice, and Danny smiled sadly at him.

"Luckily for me most of the teachers witnessed first-hand what kind of damage his own son was capable of inflicting. Some of them argued for extenuating circumstances. In the end they decided on a compromise."

"A compromise."

"Yeah. I leave the School and voluntarily restrict my access to Life Force. I don't let it in, I don't communicate with it, unless there's an emergency, I don't use any serious magic – just enough to keep myself connected, barely."

Steve's eyes widened in alarm. "So... what you did for me earlier..."

"A big no-no," Danny confirmed grimly. "Punishable by immediate and full stripping of all sentient abilities." He shrugged almost helplessly. "I've actually been waiting for somebody from the School to show up ever since."

Steve looked away from him then, blowing out a deep, heavy breath. "Shit, man, I'm so sorry. It's all my-" He didn't finish, as Danny's hand encircled his arm, its grip – just shy of painful.

"I'm a big boy, Steven. I knew what I was doing. I knew what the consequences were."

"But you-"

"I'll handle it," Danny assured him categorically, even as his gut tightened painfully in sudden morbid anticipation. It was another warning, he realized with a jolt only seconds before he heard a voice he never thought he would hear again:

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the great Danny Williams himself. The little wizard that _**almost**_ could."

* * *

_Well, I couldn't resist a wee bit of a cliffie... I hope you liked the chapter. Let me know your thoughts. Oh, and, yes, there's whump coming :)_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Thank you so much for your response to the last chapter! I will try to respond to all the reviews, but I'm a bit behind, so, please, forgive me if I am late with my responses. **

**POV in this chapter goes back and forth between Danny and Steve. The different POVs are separated by "H50" dividers. Hope it does not get too confusing.**

**Well, without further ado ,here comes the promised whump :)**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Steve whirled at the sound, squinting at the dark figure that seemed to have molded itself straight out of the black cloud that swirled around it, making the night darker still.

"Barry the Weasel!" he heard Danny's strained voice beside him, the blond's tension – a palpable force between them. "I didn't think you were allowed in public without a leash. Did Daddy Dearest forget to lock the cage again?"

The newcomer scoffed unkindly. "I see you haven't changed much," he observed in a haughty drawled out imitation of British accent. "Second-rate insults still your best weapon."

"I seem to remember whooping your ass pretty good last time," Danny countered coldly. "Wasn't enough for you?"

The man released a long, put-upon sigh of exasperation. "You've been cut off from your powers for far too long, Williams," he noted, conceit coloring his words. "I believe I can more than return the favor now."

He waved his hand, and harsh blazing light split the unsuspecting blackness, flooding the space around them.

His right arm raised instinctively to shield his eyes, Steve blinked myopically at the darkness that retreated nervously before the luminous onslaught, licking angrily at the edges of the light-filled circle that surrounded them.

"That's better," the newcomer nodded in satisfaction, crossing his arms on his chest with quite a bit of smugness. "I'd hate for you to have to miss out on seeing the moment of your own death."

Danny started toward him, hands balled up into tight fists at his sides, but Steve was faster. He stepped forward, placing himself squarely between Danny and his skinnier but taller opponent. "So this is the conceited dimwit you told me about?" he sneered, a cold challenge in his voice. "Does your School normally send scum to do its dirty work?"

"Stay out of this, Steve," Danny hissed in warning.

Steve, predictably, ignored him. "I don't know what kinds of standards you have at your School," he continued, unperturbed, "but this is a private beach. _**My**_ beach. And you're not welcome here." He took a step closer to Danny's old nemesis, his 6'2'' frame still easily towering over the man, and said in a clipped, dangerous voice that brooked no argument. "Get out."

Winsley's thin bloodless lips twisted into a frosty, condescending smile. "Are _**you**_ going to make me, ..._**Steve**_?"

"Wouldn't be the first brat I had to throw off the premises," Steve countered mulishly, paying no attention to Danny's hand that suddenly wrapped itself rather forcefully around his good arm, pulling him back. It may have been a stupid move – taunting a guy with supernatural powers, but as long as it kept his attention away from Danny, Steve was counting it as a win.

The smile on the newcomer's face turned sour, as though he had suddenly swallowed a bug. "It appears your friend doesn't really have a good understanding of what we are capable of, Williams," he said finally in the same haughty tone of voice that now held a note of disgust. "Perhaps I should demonstrate."

"No!" Danny's outburst – a bit too hasty, a bit too desperate – was met with a widening smirk on his opponent's face, and Steve was reminded suddenly, vividly of a grinning hyena that has just spotted its prey. He felt an overwhelming urge to wipe that smirk off Winsley's face, but Danny's hand held him like a vise, fingers digging painfully into his flesh.

"Stand down, you idiot," he heard his blond partner growl beside him. "I told you I'll handle this. Get out of here."

The SEAL spared a glance at him, noting with dismay the undisguised fear in the smaller man's eyes. Fear for him, Steve. "Please, babe, would you listen to me this once? Please, go back to the house."

"You know, for once I find I must agree with Williams," Winsley chimed in unexpectedly, his tone amused. "You really should go back to the house."

The man swung his hand sharply to the side, and Steve gasped in shock, as a powerful gust of wind slammed into his body, lifting him off his feet and sending him hurtling in the direction of the lanai. He crashed heavily through the glass doors, the back of his head connecting painfully with something solid and unyielding. The impact reverberated cruelly through his already throbbing skull, driving a spike of blinding, white-hot agony from temple to temple, before plunging him willy-nilly into the mercifully pain-free darkness.

H50-H50-H50

Danny cursed as Steve's hand was ripped free from his, the momentum causing him to stumble forward. He reached out desperately with Life Force, hoping to slow down his partner's furious flight, to lessen the impact. He succeeded, but not by much, and his heart sank, when he saw his friend's forward progress come to an abrupt, jarring stop. Steve was alive, that much he knew, but how badly was he hurt...

"You didn't have to do that!" he whirled on his opponent, anger making Life Force sing around him with nervous anticipation.

Winsley shrugged, his lips pursed in something akin to disgust. "He annoyed me," he said simply, sparing a quick glance in the direction of the house, and Danny could have sworn he saw a flicker of enjoyment in the dark hazel eyes. "Besides, you have to admit your friend was a bit of a hindrance, Williams. It is much easier for us to conclude our... business with him out of the way."

Hands balled into fists at his sides, Danny turned his back on the house, taking a determined step toward him. "Alright, there's just the two of us now. Do what you came here to do. Get it over with."

An amused laughter was his response, and Danny frowned, looking wearily at his old enemy. "I am not here to strip your powers, Williams," he smirked, shaking his head at him as if he were patronizing a child. "My father's influence could only do so much for my standing at the School, as you can imagine. I was able to stay on as an instructor, but to be on the Disciplinary Committee?" The man scoffed derisively. "Even my old man could not do miracles of that magnitude. No, my dear foe, I'm afraid I had to stoop to a bit of trickery to get my hands on your current whereabouts."

"Well, I'm glad the School has at least some good sense," the blond detective nodded grimly, discreetly pulling Life Force closer toward him, gathering it around him as a shield. "Though, if they had been less concerned with kissing your father's behind, they would have long locked you up like the animal you are."

"Perhaps," Winsley inclined his head pensively, a frown marring his high forehead. "Lucky for me, my father disagreed with that assessment. So here I am."

"To do what exactly?" Danny inquired acerbically, already knowing the answer. And he wasn't at all surprised when a wave of pure energy slammed into him, knocking him off his feet.

"Why to kill you, of course," came the mocking voice above him that had him scrambling to get back to his feet. "Don't you worry, though. Someone from that stuck-up Committee will be along soon to collect whatever's left of you and your Life Force connections."

H50-H50-H50

Steve groaned, as awareness gradually pushed back the fog of unconsciousness, bringing back the viciousness of the pain. Each new second of alertness was an agonizing throb that tore through his brain with every beat of his heart. For several long moments he was content to simply lie there with his eyes squeezed shut, hoping to be pulled back into the blissful darkness. And then he remembered.

"Danny!"

His eyes shot open that same instant, and he scrambled to get back to his feet, only making it as far as his knees before promptly emptying the meager contents of his stomach. His bout of nausea passed, he remained there in the same hunched over position with his one good hand planted on the floor amid a mess of vomit and broken glass, trembling and breathing harshly through his nose.

A sound from the outside – something that resembled a sharp crackle of lightning – pulled his attention to the outside, and Steve turned his head carefully to the side just in time to see the newcomer, Winsley, send a wave of dark-grey, shimmering energy in Danny's direction. The blond deflected it, arms raised protectively before him, but Steve could see the way those arms trembled under the pressure. He needed to help him. Now.

And so he pushed himself painfully to his feet and stumbled swaying into the living room, where he had left his gun.

H50-H50-H50

"You were never better than me, Williams," the words came scathing and hateful, as wave after wave slammed against his weakening defenses. "Not back then. And especially not now, when I've had seventeen years to improve my abilities, while you locked yours away."

Winsley reached forward, his hand slowly curling into a fist, and Danny gasped, feeling an invisible vise tighten around his throat. "I've learned some things, Williams," the man smirked, eyes crinkling with dark amusement. "And your shield is useless against them." The smirk turned into an outright laugh, as he watched his opponent struggle against the power that was suffocating him, his hands scraping uselessly against the energy collar that tightened impossibly with every passing second.

"You couldn't protect your baby sister," the mocking words came through a haze that had begun to shroud his oxygen-deprived brain. "You couldn't protect your friend. And cannot protect yours-"

There was a deafening bang that cut off Winsley's speech, and the pressure around his throat was suddenly gone.

Standing on all fours, gulping desperately for air, Danny watched in wide-eyed stupor, as his insane (because no person in their right mind would even consider doing something like this) partner staggered toward them, firing his gun at Winsley. "No," he whispered weakly. "Get back. Get back."

H50-H50-H50

His first shot caught the sentient by surprise, and the man was thrown back, a bullet lodged in his shoulder. But he recovered quickly, and the next two bullets froze in mid-air, never reaching their target.

"Foolish, foolish man," Winsley growled, flicking his wrist in Steve's direction, and the former SEAL barely had time to react, as the bullets he fired turned suddenly and whizzed through the air, heading unerringly toward him.

He threw himself to the side, falling heavily onto the ground, crying out as his broken arm bore the impact. And for a moment he just lay there, unmoving, breathing heavily through the nauseating pain. But then he found himself being lifted up and pulled to a standing position, his body frozen in place, suspended inches above the ground like a hapless fly in an invisible spider web. He blinked, trying to focus his bleary gaze on the man that stood suddenly much closer than he had expected.

"If you are so eager to experience my power first-hand," Winsley offered darkly, his eyes burning with barely contained, fiery rage, "I will be only too happy to oblige."

The sentient thrust his right hand toward him, and a ray of dark flaming energy burst forth from his palm, hitting Steve squarely in the chest.

He screamed in agony, as the dark power tore through him, ripping through every single cell in his body, burning away every trace of life, inch by agonizing inch. For a brief moment he thought he heard Danny's voice, a desperate scream of his name. Then came a flash of blinding beautiful light, and the pain stopped abruptly. And then he knew no more.

* * *

_TBC_

_Well, I hope the chapter made sense. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N (sigh) Another long wait that I must apologize for. This chapter was really fighting me all the way to the last sentence. I think I managed to wrestle it into something readable, but I'll wait to hear the verdict on that from you, guys.**

**Thank you, thank you, thank you for your continuous support of this story. I will continue to try to respond to all your comments (I think I did a more or less okay job last time, although I might have missed some still), and I do hope you continue to read and enjoy (and drop me a line when you're done :-))**

* * *

Chapter 5

Breathing heavily, Danny lurched to his feet and instantly slammed his eyes shut, as a wave of dizziness assaulted him, nearly driving him back down to the ground. He bent down, palms planted against his shaking knees, as he tried to get his bearings once again. Life Force was a nervous haze around him, pulsating with agitation and urgency for him to act, now, _now, NOW_ ! The urgency became a deafening, bloodcurdling scream, and Danny drew up instantly, his heart thudding with sudden realization that it was the echo of Steve's own voice that Life Force carried to him, magnified to the extreme.

A horrified gasp died on his lips, as his gaze fell upon his partner. Steve's body was frozen in mid-air, his muscles locked impossibly tight, the cords in his neck strained almost to the point of breaking, as a thick blade of dark pulsating energy cut deep into the center of his chest, holding him cruelly in place.

Danny let out a furious roar and lunged forward, desperate to relieve his partner's agony. He didn't let his mind linger on the fact that what he saw was not supposed to have been possible. That turning the bright, luminescent life energy into the black energy of death was supposed to have been a skill so ancient and so taboo that it was buried deep under layers of forced oblivion, its very mention scrapped from all textbooks in the School library. All except for one antique dust-covered volume Danny had stumbled upon one late study night. That book's yellowed, faded pages made a few vague references to a dangerous power – the underside of Life Force – capable of destroying all life with the same ease as the other helped sustain it. A power so great and so irresistible that no sentient that ever tapped into it was able to walk away until darkness consumed them whole. A power so evil, sentients were forbidden from ever learning the skill to access it. He didn't know how Winsley managed to unlock that power, nor did he particularly care. He needed to stop him, that's all he cared about.

Danny didn't get far. A wave of energy slammed into him, meeting his ineffectual attack full force and knocking him flat on his back.

"Wait your turn, Williams," Winsley spat disdainfully, sparing him a quick glance before turning his full attention back to the writhing, gasping body in the iron grip of his power. "I'll get to you as soon as I'm finished with your pesky friend here."

The blond shook his head, growling weakly at his own helplessness, even as he frantically searched his memory, trying to come up with something _anything _to help Steve. A long-forgotten conversation came to his mind just then, a conversation he had with one of his teachers all those years ago, after discovering the ancient book. Rattled by the new information, he wanted to know how Life Force could hope to withstand against a power as terrible, according to the descriptions, as the darkness. _"Dark energy is powerful, that is true," _the teacher, Sentient Koehler, conceded with a curt nod. _"But the energy of life is everywhere, in every living thing – animals, birds, trees. When dark power threatens, a sentient can call on all of them, even the tiniest blade of grass, to join their energies together, giving that sentient enough Life Force to push back the darkness and defeat it. However," _and here the teacher leaned closer to him, a cautionary finger stopping inches from Danny's nose, _ "such formidable force can come together only under such extreme circumstances, and it will be a terrifying force to wield. It should never, EVER, be attempted in any other situation." "Why not?" _Danny wondered then. _"Because in the absence of a target as powerful as the darkness, it will destroy the one who attempts to wield it,"_ was the reply.

Decided now, Danny threw a quick, hopeful glance at the lush greenery surrounding them. "Help me out here, guys, alright?" he murmured, even as he closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath, letting his Life Force enhanced senses reach out in search of any and all living energy that he could find. He expanded his senses farther and deeper than he ever dared to before, and he had to bite back a gasp of surprise as he suddenly felt new sources of warm, luminous energy – some big, some small – light up all around him, pulsating bright and refreshing all around him.

_"Help me, please,"_ he begged them silently, even as he tapped into them, letting their power join his own, letting it flood into him, until he feared that he would explode from the excess of it. And as he knew he had enough, and confident that his connections were still there should he require more, Danny raised his arms palms out before him, pointing unerringly in the direction of the deep whirlpool of darkness he sensed churning there a few feet away, and struck.

A beam of light, wide and blinding, shot forth from his open palms, nearly knocking him backwards, as it tore into the shadowy vortex like an enraged pit-bull. He was both awed and terrified by the sheer volume of power that surged through him, brilliant, infinite and merciless in its assault. It was like nothing he had experienced before, and he was fairly sure no other sentient had either, at least not in recorded history.

Eyes wide open now, Danny watched in triumphant fascination, as his opponent reared back under the unexpected onslaught of the blazing luminous power, inadvertently releasing his prey. The blond allowed himself a small sigh of relief, as the black beam of light, that had his partner skewered like a piece of meat, flickered out, and the latter fell heavily back down onto the ground, landing in a twisted, awkward and frighteningly motionless heap. He wanted to go to Steve, desperately. He needed to check if his friend was even still alive, still breathing. But he couldn't. Not yet. Not when his long-time nemesis was still standing before him, eyes blazing, a cloud of darkness billowing around him, enveloping him like a cloak.

Winsley recovered almost instantly, pushing back against Danny's attack with a furious, desperate assault of his own, the dark power sizzling angrily as it fought against the light. But it was no longer anything more than an ineffectual bark of an old, toothless mutt. Fueled by hundreds of infinite springs of light energy that poured into him from every direction, Danny stood firm and unyielding, pushing back against the darkness with every cell of his being, as Life Force flowed through him, humming and vibrating with unrestrained, savage need to push back the blackness, to destroy it.

Triumphant and powerful, light grew in its intensity, so much so that Danny was forced once more to close his eyes, lest he should go blind right then and there. And then suddenly it was gone, vanished in a sizzling flash of a supernova-like explosion, and he reeled at the unexpected loss of connection, as all of his energy-giving ties were instantly cut off. The pale blue eyes flew open in confusion, nervously seeking out the enemy. But the man was no longer a threat. He was no longer anything, really, but a pile of smoking burnt-up rags – a testament to the awesome and deadly power of Life Force.

Mouth agape, he blinked at it stupidly, his mind sputtering at the sight of such complete, terrifying destruction. He knew, he read enough books, heard enough legends of old to know that Life Force was capable of this and more, when its full potential was unleashed. But to actually be the vessel through which all that unbridled formidable power flowed, to see first-hand the kind of impact it could have... Danny shook his head in amazement and nearly found himself toppling over, as his head spun wildly at the movement. _Aftereffects of a severe energy drain_, his mind supplied helpfully – also something he read about. Experienced it even, though not anywhere near to the same extent.

He took a breath – deep and deliberate, trying to settle his spinning vision, and in the next instant he was already stumbling unsteadily toward the remaining figure that lay motionless and deathlike on the soft grass.

"Steve!" the blond pleaded fearfully, slipping to his knees beside his friend, hands roaming frantically over his all-too-still form before settling on each side of the spectrally pale face. There was no response from the downed man. No flinch. Not even the reassuring thumping of a pulse underneath Danny's trembling fingers. "Come on, Steve, please! Don't do this to me, man."

"Sentient Williams?"

He stiffened, gritting his teeth, as he turned to glare at the two sentients he had been expecting ever since he had come to Steve's aid at the warehouse. _Why couldn't they have come sooner? Why had they allowed Winsley to get as far as he did? _

"We have been delayed," Sentient Koehler, a graying broad-shouldered giant, offered calmly, as though reading his mind. "But ... what happened here?" he nodded at the still-smoldering rags, confusion and curiosity reflecting in the large brown eyes.

"Winsley," Danny spat the name out angrily, turning his gaze back to Steve's slack, pale features.

"I was not aware that Sentient Winsley had been sent out in response to your Life Force use violation," the second man huffed officiously, frowning at Danny from underneath dark bushy eyebrows.

"He came here of his own free will," the blond supplied grimly, "to kill me. My friend here intervened..." His voice caught slightly, as his fingers brushed against the skin that was already beginning to grow cold. In the next instant fury forced out grief, and he shot to his feet, taking a shaky but determined step in their direction.

"That son of a bitch used dark power. I don't know _how_ he was able to tap into it or why he was even allowed to use his power after what he did to my baby sister. And I don't even care. I just need you to help me save my friend." Fists clenched white-knuckled at his sides, he repeated, "Please, you _have_ to."

His two former teachers exchanged concerned looks before closing their eyes to let Life Force verify for them the truth of his words. Meanwhile Danny waited, biting his lip in restless anticipation, hating that they had to do this, hating every second of delay it caused.

Koehler took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, his gaze finding Danny's once more. "You managed to unlock Life Force's full potential," the sentient noted, eyes shining with something akin to admiration.

"Yeah, well, I didn't really have a choice," Danny shrugged offhandedly, his patience worn to thin pitiful shreds. "He was killing my friend." He pushed a nervous hand through his badly tousled hair and let it linger there a moment, as he turned to them with a wild, desperate look, "Look, I know why you're here. I know I broke the agreement, and I'm fully prepared to take my punishment. But my friend-"

"Is already dead," the second man, Sentient Landry, cut in brusquely, ignoring the way his former student flinched at the pronouncement. "It is unfortunate that Sentient Winsley was given access to the power of darkness. I do not know who allowed for that to happen, although I do have my suspicions. And you can be assured that, should my suspicions be confirmed, that individual shall suffer appropriate punishment for his indiscretion." He pursed his lips, his expression grim but unapologetic. "Yet, as regrettable as this situation is, there is nothing that can be done for your friend. Not anymore." He made a soft clicking noise with his tongue, giving him a small helpless shrug. "I am sorry."

"That... is not entirely true," Koehler, who remained silent through Landry's speech, his gaze lost in deep reflection, spoke up suddenly, and stepped forward, placing a steadying hand on Danny's shoulder, as the blond reeled in shock and exhaustion. "There might be a way."

Swallowing past the lump of despair that threatened to clog up his throat, Danny blinked up at gray-haired sentient, trying to focus in spite of the terrifying mantra of _"Steve is dead and they can't help me"_ running through his mind. "You... you can save him?" he breathed out, eyes wide with timorous hope.

Koehler smiled encouragingly down at him and removed his hand, walking past him toward Steve's prone form. Squatting down next to the body, he let his hands glide slowly through the air above the motionless figure, listening intently to everything Life Force communicated to him about the man's condition.

"There is quite a bit of damage," he said finally, turning back to Danny. "Darkness had destroyed too much for regular healing to be effective."

"That is precisely what I told him," the second sentient interjected, arms crossed on his chest in a mixture of annoyance and exasperation.

"However," Koehler stood back up, glancing at his companion, "a great enough charge of life energy can _potentially _reverse that damage."

"Great enough," scoffed the other. "You would need about as great a charge as the one Sentient Williams had just used to even hope to fix something like this. And even then this man would need to have Life Force connections to maintain the charge long enough for it to work, which, I must point out, he does not." .

"Precisely what I was thinking," Koehler smiled triumphantly, even as the other man's scowl turned darker still.

"I sure hope you are not suggesting what I think you're suggesting," he began, shaking his head in disapproval.

"What?" Danny inquired, confused, but neither sentient seemed to hear him.

"Why not?"

"Because it has never been attempted before, for one," Landry huffed out angrily. "And it is against regulations. This is not what we came here to do."

"Would you two just stop it for a minute?" the blond snapped louder now, causing the two men to freeze mid-argument. Hands raised before him in supplication, he repeated, "What are you talking about?"

"I believe that if, instead of simply stripping your Life Force connections, we transfer all of them into your friend here along with a powerful charge of life energy, we might be able to reverse the damage that Sentient Winsley caused," Koehler explained, grinning slightly, as his shorter companion rolled his eyes at him. "My esteemed colleague disagrees with that method, but I think it might work."

"Wait, wait, wait," Danny blinked rapidly, trying to wrap his mind around the idea. "So... so you transfer my powers into Steve. How... He's not a sentient. How exactly would that work?"

"That is true, he's not," Koehler conceded simply. "That is why I don't expect those connections to linger inside him. And that is why Sentient Landry and I will need to hurry and transmit as much life energy into him as possible as soon as the transfer is complete, so those connections have a chance to repair the damage before they disappear."

Danny nodded dazedly, as he digested this information, his heart thumping rapidly with the influx of new hope. "What do I need to-?... How do I-?" he stammered hoarsely, looking to his former instructors for direction.

"You just put your hands on him," Landry responded grudgingly, pointing at Steve's lifeless form, "and we will do all the work."

"This will be painful," he warned unnecessarily, when Danny moved without hesitation back to his partner's side. "Perhaps not as painful as regular stripping of your abilities, but painful nevertheless."

Danny didn't respond right away, watching intently as the two sentients came around Steve's body to settle on the other side of him, their joined hands coming to rest over Danny's, where he had placed them above his friend's heart. He took a deep breath, meeting their calm, expectant gazes, and nodded, his eyes bright with unwavering resolve. "I guess we better get this over with quickly then."

* * *

**TBC**

**_One more chapter left in Part I. _**


End file.
